You may be aware that Microsoft is preparing the next generation of the Windows operating system, Windows 7. This will be the replacement for the much criticized Windows Vista. The basic premise of the upgrade is to address the myriad of criticism that Windows Vista has received since reaching the market.
For the record, my personal experience with Windows Vista, on my own tablet PC as well as with clients, has not been bad. There are things that I like about Windows Vista and things that could be improved. There is always room for improvement. I think the real key to the criticism is that too many people tried to run Windows Vista on hardware that was just not robust enough. With sufficient hardware, Windows Vista has performed well and been a stable operating system.
Regardless, Microsoft has recognized the PR problem it has with Windows Vista and has responded in a remarkably nimble way to bring Windows 7 to market. It is already in public beta and will be moving to release later this year. Initial reports have Windows 7 performing very well and addressing nearly all of the well reported concerns. Our own internal testing of Windows 7 has been very positive. It performs well, is stable and addresses the myriad of user experience complaints.
Today, Microsoft also released details on the editions of Windows 7 that will be available. Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 editions will build on each other. In other words, each edition will include all the features of the edition it upgrades, so that you will have the cumulative feature sets in each successive edition. This just makes sense and should make it easier to decide which edition of Windows 7 is best for you. The editions are as follows:
Windows 7 Home Basic - best for home users.
Windows 7 Home Premium - for home users that want enhanced media capabilities like Media Center.
Windows 7 Professional - best for business users.
Windows 7 Enterprise - best for businesses that license Windows for all their PC's.
Windows 7 Ultimate - for those that want it all.
More details about what each edition provides will be coming and you should check the Windows 7 web site for current details. As more details emerge about the final release of Windows 7, it looks like it will make amends for whatever may have annoyed you about any other version of Windows. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the official release.